Examining Hong Kong’s 2003 GameKing

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Released in 2003, the GameKing (or GameKing I, or GAMEKING, or GM-218, or even Game-King) was designed by Chinese manufacturer Timetop for release in Hong Kong.

The system adopts the “international mainstream horizontal grip design” with traditionally placed buttons and clear instructions, according to Timetop’s website. Another way of putting it is that this handheld looks a lot like a Game Boy Advance.

The system has a 48 by 32 pixel monochromatic screen with adjustable contrast and comes with three games built-in. A menu pops up showing the three games after a brief Timetop logo zips back and forth on the screen when you turn the device on. The three games are Drifter — which appears to be a Wonderboy clone featuring an obese mouse, 2003 — an extra pixelated take on 1943: The Battle For Midway, and Miner or Mine Battle — which is basically a simple version of Bomberman.

All three included games make use of the relatively stiff directional pad and the A and B face buttons. While the system has two shoulder buttons, they’re just for show, with literally no connecting wires, or even the ability to press them in. The system also has holes for two sets of speakers, but that’s a fake-out too. There’s really just a speaker on the right side.

The official description of the handheld says that it is equipped with a unique and powerful sound processor, but nothing about the built-in games seem to back that up.

At the system’s release, Timetop seemed to have big plans for the system, saying that it would not just support game cartridges, but the ability to extend the functionality of the system to include support of online games and even expand memory storage. Neither of those seem to have ever happened. Timetop also said that it planned to launch 100 classic games at the end of 2004 and 300 classic games at the end of 2005. Instead, the company released 16 games as individual carts and another 18 cartridges, each with four games on them.

The GameKing runs on two double-A batteries, which deliver about 12 hours of game time.

While Timetop never seemed to deliver on the promise of its original GameKing, it did manage to release a slew of follow-up systems. Among them was the GameKing II, which was designed to look a bit like the PlayStation Portable, but still offered the same sub-par graphics — though this time with backlighting.

Love retro handhelds? Well then, have I got a bunch of stories, videos, and pictures for you.